Departing Advice

As I sit here amid boxes and on a very short deadline, I thought I would sit down and give a few parting words of advice to the MNGOP Party leadership. This not only includes the Chairman and the Executive Committee, but also the State Central Committee.

Remember who your base is! You have a grass roots base that would love to work for you, if you would quit shutting us out in favor of your friends in DC. Listen to us. We know what our friends and neighbors WHO VOTE are thinking. We know what issues are plaguing them the most.....and it ain't gay marriage, Iraq or abortion! To borrow from former President Clinton....IT'S THE ECONOMY STUPID! Listen to your base, your grass roots and show that you appreciate the knowledge and hard work that we bring to the table. We are not the enemy....you can not do it all. At some point, you must take the advise of those of us in the trenches. Don't shut the grass roots out for too long - or they may never come back!

The fact of the matter is your friends in DC has no clue what is on the minds of the average voter in Minnesota. They don't know what issues are most important to the voters....you remember them don't you? They are the folks that you (and your candidates) are supposed to be courting in order WIN ELECTIONS. I use the term "courting" deliberately. You are supposed to be winning these people over - not scaring them into voting for you. We all know that Al Franken is a cad with a hair trigger temper. This is not news......tell us why we should vote for your guys (and gals) what makes them deserving of my precious vote. Your DC friends can't vote for you...Minnesota residents can. However we need to know why you deserve to be sent to DC - not why the other guy is a royal schmuck!

Listen to the voters. As I said, kitchen table conversation today does not revolve around gay marriage, abortion and Iraq. Today's kitchen table conversations are about why the idiots in DC don't allow us to drill for domestic oil when the price of gas is so high, the high cost of feeding the family and the fear of losing their homes because they can't afford to keep up with payments because of the high price of food and fuel! Throw away your silly surveys that ask if people are pro-life or pro-choice. IT IS NOT IMPORTANT TO VOTERS AT THIS TIME! Get out off the 1990's and into today! Take two seconds to ask the voters "what is important to you and what would be your ideal fix?" Our principles resonate with voters if you give it a chance. GIVE IT A CHANCE!

The Republican Party is not the about of "God, guns and gays". We are about solutions. Solutions that provide the most freedoms to the most people. Freedom to succeed and the freedom to fail! When you put it to the voters in that way - you will find out that you have more supporters in this purple blue state than you thought. It resonated in 2000 and 2004 - it will resonate again as long as you remember one simple lesson. Listen to the grass roots. They are your most valuable asset and right now they want nothing to do with you because you have nothing to do with them.

Going To Extremes

Because of circumstances beyond my control, I was not at last week's Republican Party State Convention. I gave up my seat to a newcomer since I was not sure that I was going to be here for the convention or not (more on this later). However, I was following the action thanks to AM 1280 the Patriot and TN contributors AAA, Chief, Kevin, Martin and SCSU Scholars King and Janet. So even though I was not there in person, I do think I have a good take on what happened last weekend and because of that I am dismayed at the actions of my "fellow Republicans".

One of the first things that I heard about was Friday's attempt by the State Executive Committee to totally usurp the autonomy of the individual BPOU's. Andy has a letter posted from one of the BPOU leaders that was the target of this takeover. Shortly after I heard about that I read a story from the Star Tribune that quoted one of the newcomers from my district that I had given up my seat for.

"You had your shot," said former state representative Fran Bradley, who was chairing the convention. "What happened is the will of the majority and it's time to move on."

That irked Paul supporters who said they were victims of an undemocratic process. "We've been completely shut out of the process," said Lara Witte, a Paul supporter from Savage.

Emphasis mine. The irony of that statement is apparently lost on Ms. Witte (who has yet to show up for ANY activities in our BPOU other than the conventions and we have had LOTS of volunteer activities in the Savage Lands). She is so wrapped up in HER agenda that she does not see (none of the Paul supporters apparently see) that they are not the only ones being "shut out" by the State Party! Either that or she was so busy basking in the glow of her candidate's presence (more on THAT later) to pay attention to the floor battle on the Rules and Constitutional changes.

However, the State Party was not completely at fault. Yes, they made all the "right" procedural moves - moves that were guaranteed to shut ALL dissenting opinion out, but the Paul campaign does hold some blame for their being shut out of the Rules.

First and foremost was Marianne Stebbens (chair of Congressman Paul's MN Campaign) should have known to have someone parked at the Credentials table waiting for published copies of the agenda and the rules to be put out. After all, Marianne is (so she claims) to be a long time Republican Party activist. I have only been involved in the party for 6 years and I know that. She supposedly has 20 years on me - so why did she not know that? Her counterpart in Nevada certainly did. If she was going to wage an effective floor fight on the rules she needed to have her forces on the floor. Instead they were ALL out getting their pictures taken with their candidate. Then, when it was too late to make changes to the rules, the Paul supporters did everything in their power to turn the rest of the floor (many of whom were sympathetic after witnessing the Executive Committee's naked power grab and realizing that they could be next) against them and their candidate.

One of the first givens of politics is that it is a numbers game. He who has the most votes WINS. If you don't have the numbers, you are not going to win your battles - whether it is at the ballot box or on the convention floor. If the Paul campaign was smart, they would have had their candidate speak at a reception for supporters Thursday night so that their members could have all been on the floor, fresh and ready for the fight. If Ms. Witte wants to blame anyone for shutting the Paul supporters out, she needs to at least turn one eye toward the Paul campaign!

But again, the State Party needs to bear some of the blame. They made took every advantage that they had and used it against the Paul people. They made sure that agendas and copies of rules changes got out as "late" as possible so that as few convention attendees had them as possible. That should upset more than just the Paul supporters. They also made sure that there were no scheduled breaks. There was not even a break in the action for lunch! By manipulating what information got out and when and by manipulating the schedule, convention organizers made sure that the deck was always stacked in their favor.

One thing that was cemented in my mind as a result of the convention is this. The MNGOP is not about helping get Republicans get elected. If it was, they would be working with the BPOUs instead of against them. No, the state party - in it's current incarnation - is only out for itself. Self preservation is not always a bad thing, but in this case it does not instill much faith in the state party at all. I don't know what the motivation is, but that is the message that came out of Rochester last weekend.

Lessons To Be Learned

The Wall Street Journal has a little different take on the recent special election loss than my friend Kevin does.

If there is such a thing as a useful election defeat, then Tuesday's Republican loss in a special House election in Mississippi would qualify. Maybe this thumping in a heretofore safe GOP seat will finally scare the Members straight, or at least less crooked.

Democrats won with 54% of the vote in a district that a Republican won with 66% in 2006 and that President Bush carried in 2004 by 25 points. It was the GOP's third special election loss this year, and it has Democrats predicting that November will be another rout of 2006 proportions. Oklahoma's Tom Cole, who runs the National Republican Congressional Committee, captured the GOP reaction when he declared that "There is no district that is safe for Republican candidates."

Three straight special elections losses here in Minnesota have also driven the point home hard - especially coupled with the not-so-stunning caucus defeats by 3 of the so-called "Override 6".

This is the lesson Republicans should have learned in 2006, but the Members preferred to blame their failure on President Bush and Iraq. House Republicans pooh-poohed their own earmarking scandals, spending excesses and overall wallowing in the Beltway status quo. Rather than rethink their habits, they re-elected the same party leaders and even kept Jerry Lewis as their chief Appropriator. Congressman John Shadegg of Arizona is right when he says that "Since the 2006 elections, Republicans have done absolutely nothing to redefine themselves. We can't even get behind an earmark moratorium bill."

The state and national parties use the "2006 was just a tough year to be a Republican" meme to excuse the massive losses that they suffered, rather than taking the long hard introspective look at what THEY did wrong....and they did a lot wrong. Both the state and the national parties have abandoned running on a vision or message and decided that the best way to campaign is fear. They constantly point out what a horrible person the other guy is and then whine with the other side responds in kind! Meanwhile, no one knows what Republicans are supposed to stand for. It is that abandonment of the message that caused this very website to come into being! After all - SOMEONE needs to let people know what conservatism is about.

They've also been content to replay their same losing political attack strategy. In 2006, they thought they could save their majority by donning a Nancy Pelosi fright wig and shouting "liberal, liberal, liberal." This year they're wearing a Barack Obama mask, and that isn't working either.

In the Mississippi race, the national GOP tried to link Democratic candidate Travis Childers to Barack Obama and Reverend Jeremiah Wright. One TV ad declared: "Travis Childers: He took Obama's endorsement over our conservative values." But Mr. Childers was well known as a cultural conservative who favors gun rights and opposes abortion. In a year when Americans are mad as hell, such a negative attack strategy merely reminds voters that Republicans have run out of ideas.

I would maybe not say that Republicans have run out of ideas, but I would say that the consultancy class that the state and national parties rely on are woefully out of touch with the voters!

The Journal then goes on to say something that many on these pages have said for the last 3 years!

The better strategy is to offer a reform agenda of their own, especially one that begins to speak to the economic anxieties of the middle class. This includes doing some homework on health care for a change, instead of ceding that field to the Democrats. One of Tom DeLay's great blunders, among many, was failing to do anything about health care when Republicans controlled Washington in 2005. This year, John McCain is offering them a policy lifeline, and they should grab it.

Mr. McCain is also proposing to veto all earmarks, and you can hear the grating of teeth in the GOP caucus on that one. Yes, the "real money" is in entitlements. But there's nothing independent voters hate more than the self-dealing and incumbent protection that earmarks represent. An earmark ban would be potent political symbolism – and substance.

Democrats and the media want to cow Republicans into believing that tax cutting doesn't sell anymore. But tell that to Republican Mayor of Indianapolis Greg Ballard, who won an upset victory last year by calling for lower property taxes. The GOP should expand its tax cut message into a larger tax reform theme that also hits at the corruption of tax loopholes for the rich.

Voters are especially angry about rising prices for food and gasoline, and here too Republicans can start speaking for the middle class. The weak dollar policy of the Bush Administration and Federal Reserve has helped to cause the price spike, and Republicans on Capitol Hill should start talking about how inflation punishes those who work and save. With oil at $124 a barrel, voters are also willing to listen to a message that encourages more domestic energy production across the board – oil, natural gas, coal, shale and nuclear.

Yes, yes, yes, yes and YES!!!!! That is exactly what the voters in Minnesota AND America want to hear! However, we also want you to act on your campaign promises.

Democrats have settled on a formula of running as cultural conservatives in GOP districts, and as economic populists on "fiscal discipline," trade protection, corporate bashing, and "middle-class tax cuts" paid for by taxes on the rich. If Republicans can't trump that message with an agenda of low taxes, health-care affordability and portability, jobs and stable prices, they will be routed again in November.

We have already seen that the Democrats don't mean it when they campaign as fiscally disciplined. We saw (in 2006) Margaret Anderson-Kelliher stand before the microphones and claim that this new legislature would be fiscally moderate and then watched this same "fiscally moderate" DFL Leadership propose MILLIONS of dollars in tax increases over the last two years. The voters have a serious case of "buyers remorse". If the House Republican Caucus were smart, they would seize on that and propose a vision for Minnesota that not only highlights what they will do but it will give the voters an "accountability matrix" so that they realize that this caucus means what they say.

If they do this, it could reverse a very troubling trend. Will they learn this lesson? One can only hope the answer is a resounding "Yes we can!"

What's A Party To DO?

I have been meaning to post on this since it came out earlier this week, but I could never find the time. Today, as a follow up to this mornings post, I knew I would have to make the time. On Tuesday former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich said what many of us grass roots activists have been saying for a while.

The Republican loss in the special election for Louisiana's Sixth Congressional District last Saturday should be a sharp wake up call for Republicans: Either Congressional Republicans are going to chart a bold course of real change or they are going to suffer decisive losses this November.

The facts are clear and compelling.

Saturday's loss was in a district that President Bush carried by 19 percentage points in 2004 and that the Republicans have held since 1975.

This defeat follows on the loss of Speaker Hastert's seat in Illinois. That seat had been held by a Republican for 76 years with the single exception of the 1974 Watergate election when the Democrats held it for one term. That same seat had been carried by President Bush 55-44% in 2004.

That's the bad. If things don't change, here is the WORST!

The Republican brand has been so badly damaged that if Republicans try to run an anti-Obama, anti- Reverend Wright, or (if Senator Clinton wins), anti-Clinton campaign, they are simply going to fail.

This model has already been tested with disastrous results.

Emphasis mine! You can carry this out the the Anti-Franken, Anti-fill in the Democrats Name Here level! Last year during the election for state party chair, many state central delegates and activists (myself included) BEGGED Chairman Carey for a cogent, coherent Republican message...something we can confidently take to the voters as a reason to vote FOR our candidates (as opposed to the tired reason to vote against their candidate method that the State and National GOP has run with for the last 4 years)!

Even worse is this.

A February Washington Post poll shows that Republicans have lost the advantage to the Democrats on which party can handle an issue better -- on every single topic.

Americans now believe that Democrats can handle the deficit better (52 to 31), taxes better (48 to 40) and even terrorism better (44 to 37).

This is a catastrophic collapse of trust in Republicans built up over three generations on the deficit, two generations on taxes, and two generations on national security.

The Democrats have done a better job of telling the voters where they stand on the issues. What have the Republicans done? Don't vote for X....she/he is a _____. That's it! The voting public have no clue where we stand on issues anymore!

So what does this mean for the Minnesota GOP? It means that our leadership has to get off of the "Fright" train and develop a message that shows Minnesota that the GOP shares their values and their concerns. The House Leadership has shown flashes that they get it.....however, there is only so much that they can do. As long as Ron Carey is the public "face" of the MNGOP, he has got to be on the same page as the HRCC. What the voters think about the top of the ticket (Norm Coleman, John McCain) trickles down ticket to the state house races. If there is a disconnect between the voters and the message that Ron Carey puts in the press day in and day out, we could end up losing a Senate seat, at least two of our three Congressional seats and enough state house seats to give the DFL a veto proof majority in BOTH THE HOUSE AND THE SENATE!!!!

As we head toward the Convention and subsequent state central meeting, we need to decide what we as a party need to do to prevent what has the potential to be a slaughter of epic proportions. All options should be on the table as this election is quite simply going to be the difference between having an overwhelming DFL majority for the next generation or a viable competitive Republican Party. It really is do or die time.

Please Chairman Carey...for the sake of the state party...if you will not listen to me for God's sake listen to former Representative Gingrich! The time has come to change course....please do not let it leave you behind.

Glass Houses

There is an old saying admonishing people who live in glass houses not to throw stones. MNGOP Chairman Ron Carey should have remembered that prior to beating the Al Franken tax story into the ground. You see, in his zeal to encourage Al Franken to "come clean" on his tax problems, the MNGOP (under Ron Carey's leadership) still has not come clean on their finances, as several papers reminded readers yesterday. The FEC, you see, had issues with how certain expendatures were reported and Chairman Carey promised an immediate and speedy audit. The results of that audit, that Chairman Carey promised was forthcoming, is still - one year later - yet to be released.

Many party activists, myself included, have had problems with Chairman Carey, especially when it comes to things like party messege and credibility in the face of leadership "issues". Some expressed their frustrations in public forums, I did not. Oh I voiced my concerns. When he was running for re-election last June, Chairman Carey called me and when we finished over an hour later I had gotten the last of my concerns out. I know that I was not the only one to voice concerns to the Chairman....concerns that he said he would address and for the large part has not.

Now I fully comprehend that Chairman Carey is not running for Senate and AL Franken is, however the average voter is not going to make that distinction. The average voter is going to see these stories and they are going to say that the MNGOP is just as guilty as Franken...thus negating any messege inroads we activists might have made!

The ball is in Carey's court. If he were smart, he would release the audit PUBLICALLY and immediately and he would drop the tax issue and move on to talking about why voters need to vote for Norm Coleman (as opposed to against Al Franken). Senator Coleman has a record that Republicans can be proud of...a record that has frustrated Conservatives for sure, but for the large part has been a good representation of ALL MINNESOTANS. Rather than leaving that important story just to bloggers (like Gary Gross and myself) he needs to be talking about that and leaving the attack pieces to the blogosphere - where it can be done without damaging the candidate or the party. Right now, Chairman Carey, your actions are damaging the entire Republican ticket! For the Senator's sake, until you get the MNGOP's house in order, please stop trying to help us.

Reaching An Understanding

In the two weeks since the Transportation over-ride vote, much has been said for and against "The Six". If the "Dear Colleague" letter that Rep. Abeler has sent to his caucus is any indication, there are a few hurt feelings as well.

Dear Colleagues,
You may be wondering why I am behaving as I have been since my convention voted 58-42 to ratify my votes and actions over my 10 years.
Shockingly to me, Rep Emmer showed up at the convention on Saturday around 9:45, declaring himself as representing the caucus. “Marty went south, and I went north.”
Following a nice commendation of Rep Hackbarth for providing good representation of his district (no mention of me), Tom went onto bash the “Democrat transportation tax bill.” The entire speech lasted 7 or 8 minutes, during which time the crowd got actively engaged, since as a group they were about 3:1 opposed to the bill and many were angry at me anyway. When comments came about“those 6 republicans” Tom gestured in an encouraging way, and crowd whipped intoa frenzy against those 6 (including me) resembling an Obama rally.
There was nodoubt as to the local object of this aggression, me. As he closed, he received tumultuous applause and left.
When David Olson of the Mn Chamber arrived, he was treated harshly by the crowd and booed due to the firey mood of the crowd after Emmer’s speech.
When I approached Marty prior to the convention for a letter stating that I had been a good caucus member except for this singular vote with which he vehemently disagreed, he declined stating that didn’t I remember that the caucus was not going to do any help in my election. Which I accepted.
What shocked me is that the caucus would send Tom Emmer who has obvious and unresolved anger issues toward me and expect his appearance in already tense situation to go well. I think in human resource circles they call this theWorst Possible Decision.
I have been a member of the caucus for 10 years, but cannot recall even any stories about the caucus attacking a sitting member during an endorsing process,especially when the opponent is “no endorsement” and particularly when that member is supported by business and the MCCL.
The caucus punishment story about us 6 had died down with the advent of the budget forecast and the governor’s response. The Emmer rant at my convention has given all of this retribution talk new life, and we are now becoming known as the party of the robot.
I think we had better look inside each of ourselves and see where we are goingto wind up politically and as a coalition.
I am sending this to members and staff both, because we are all in this together. There has been too much silence already, and this matter has escalated way too far. All our loyal crew deserves to know what is going on and what transpired.
Now you know what happened. If you don’t happen to see
me at caucus, you shouldn’t be surprised. It is hard to leave your backside open
to a “family” who has tried to blatantly defeat you.
State Rep. Jim Abeler
Former Minority Lead
Health and Human Services Finance
Room 203
State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155

Now I won't go in depth into the fact that Rep. Abeler ignores the fact that he needed 60 votes to "rafity" and justify his vote. I'll simply say that 42% of his delegation chose not to "ratify" his vote and that is the more significant number as that is what with-held his endorsement last week....Instead what I want to focus on is his focus on how hurt he is that his caucus would react so negatively on this "one vote".

The caucus is, essentially, a team. Or (as Rep. Abeler states "a family"). Teams and families work together toward common benefits and common goals. Teams and families tend to share core principles - the team/family well being being one of the most important of those core principles. If a team is not whole, if a family is working at odds, they can not reach the common goals. What Rep. Abeler (and Reps. Erhardt and Peterson) seem to forget is that THEY are the ones that broke from the team...they are the ones that turned their backs on the family and voted against the common goal - against the best interests of the family. Rep. Abeler professes his disappointment and hurt that the "family" would turn their backs on him. Did he give any thought (before going against the family) to how hurt the "family" would be by HIS actions? The Governor and Caucus leadership made it clear (before the over-ride vote) that there would be consequences to going against the family. Did Rep. Abeler think that the family would ignore HIS betrayal? Actions have consequences. I would think that someone as intelligent as Rep. Abeler would understand that and (most importantly) accept it. If he honestly feels that his vote was the correct one, why the continued attempt to "ratify" his actions in front of the caucus leadership?

Rep. Abeler points out how hurt he is over the actions of the caucus....did he give any consideration to how hurt the CAUCUS was when he went against the best interests of the "family"? If not, he really should.....for it is only when you attempt to understand the hurts on both sides that brings real healing. If you want understand, Rep. Abeler, put your pride aside and try to understand how the other side feels....maybe then you can understand what is going on within the caucus.

Thanks For Nothing

Last night I got an email from a very angry neighbor of mine.

I hope the Republican Party is proud today, as some of our great MN Republican Representatives sided with the Dems to pass as you most eloquently put it “one of the most regressive tax bills to come out of this legislature”. Maybe it is time for a change because the Republicans of this state don’t have the back bone to stand on the principles of the GOP.
Thanks for nothing,

This neighbor of mine is a typical Minnesotan....VietNam era vet, small business owner, hard working family man who is just trying to make a good life for his family. Just like the rest of us, he is well informed about what is going on in the legislature (contrary to what Rep. Abler implied yesterday on the House floor) and he is very frustrated at what he sees. He sees a legislature that is more concerned about lining their own pockets rather than one that is concerned with doing "the peoples business".

As a small business owner I can't seem to find the extra cash to give my Service tech's $96.00 a day for food allowance that our boys and girls at the Capital seem to enjoy and take advantage of.

I guess all I can add is I hope that the lobbyists that our legislature seems more inclined to represent will take care of them when they get voted out of office. I also hope, for the lobbyiests sake, that the workers that their businesses depend on don't bolt the state leaving them saddled with the full burden of this horrific tax bill.

Spendthrifts

Remember that whole "Culture of Corruption" meme and how the Democrats promised they were going to "drain the swamp" if voters would just give them the reins of power in DC???? Well, the swamp is actually getting BIGGER, not smaller as this logical lady points out.



"Last year, Rep. Nancy Pelosi promised to drain the GOP swamp and reform earmark spending. This year, the House speaker argued that the $22 billion extra that Democrats want to spend on top of the Bush administration's budget represents "a very small difference."...The swamp isn't likely to be drained with Pelosi throwing her support behind Rep. Jack Murtha of Pennsylvania, a Prince of Earmarks who sponsored $163 million worth of earmarks in seven spending bills this year, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.
Worse, the so-called Democratic reform that was supposed to discourage pork spending by making earmarks more transparent now seems likely to fuel the Dems' spending spree. Rep. Nancy Boyda, D-Kansas, told The New York Times, "My guess is that next year I'm going to be putting in more earmarks."



With this kind of reform you know the taxpayers pocketbook is being well protected.



The good news for Republicans is that they can take advantage of this - especially in Republican leaning districts like Minnesota's First Congressional District. Freshman Congressman Tim Walz has to distance himself from all of this or he runs the risk of being a one and done. Wouldn't that be a shame?????

Dialing for dollars!

We got a call, in the Logical Household, today from Senator Coleman's campaign. Given that today IS the final fundraising day for the second quarter, everyone is working the phones hard to get those last few dollars in. It's no surprise.

The Logical Husband took the call. Now the Logical Husband has had more than his fair share of issues with our Senior Senator in the last 12 months...mostly over Iraq (as an Army man, he is dead set against politicians running the war effort) but that is certainly not the only issue.

Of course the caller was pushing hard for the donation and the harder he pushed the more he trotted out the "standard" MNGOP reasons....the same standard reasons that drove me batty in 2006 and that caused me to vote for a change in leadership on the state level. The same old "you don't want _____ to be in the seat do you?" (fill in the blank with the DFL boogey candidate de jour).

MEMO TO SENATOR COLEMAN AND THE MNGOP!!!!! The people of Minnesota want a reason to vote FOR YOU, not a scare tactic to get us to vote against your opponent! The sooner you figure that out, the better off things will be for you amongst the base and with the moderate voters in this state. You need to figure this out sooner rather than later or you will be another casualty of the disenfranchised voters!

FOUL!

I find it curious that the same people behind the attack letter on Joe Repya, the same people behind calls pushing delegates to vote for Col. Repya for Vice Chair (and not the seat he is running for) are crying FOUL over a leak of internal emails to the Star Tribune!

Methinks they are protesting a little too much.

Given how quickly and how close together this things all happened, one can not help but suspect that this is indeed a concerted effort to derail the challenge to the status quo. I mean, how else do you explain the line in the letter that was written on May 31 knew that there was going to be "falsehoods and half-truths" coming in the media?

This kind of campaigning is something that I find to be totally appalling! We need to be above this - WE ARE BETTER THAN THIS!!!!! Or are we? It's all about maintaing power to these folks! Do whatever you have to to get and keep power. To heck with the state or the country.

As I said before....SHAMEFUL! And they wonder why voters are turning away in droves....

Shame!!!!!

As most of you are aware, there is a campaign for the Minnesota State GOP Chairmanship. I have two very dear friends on both sides of the campaign and because of that, I have kept my preferences in the race to myself. Something I intend to continue to do. So far, the campaign had been positive with each candidate laying out, for the delegates, what he will do in the next two years to move the Minnesota Republican Party forward. However that ended yesterday when I got the most shameful letter in the mail.

"As the race for state party chairman begins to heat up, I feel compelled to urage a not of caution to the campaign of Joe Repya. Perhaps he and members of his campaign should remember our party's history..." (all emphasis is in the original)

The letter writer then goes on to talk about the 1966 campaign that led to Reagan's 11th commandment "thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican". I shall come back to this.

"I was reminded of this recently when I rea a comment by Mr. Repya where he made the following statement.

"I turned down the offer because of the despicable condition the Minnesota Republican Party is in following a greatly mismanaged and poorly executed election in 2006." - Joe Repya May 23, 2007

Whipping out my handy dictionary/thesaurus I looked up the word "despicable" and found the defination of the word. "Despicable [dispikebl] adjective contemptable, worthless and deserving to be despised"."

OK - I don't know what dictionary the letter writer used, but according to Merriam Webster online the defination is "so worthless or obnoxious as to rouse moral indignation . " I bring up this defination, not to quibble with the letter writer, but to give a broader concept of the word, for the letter writer does choose a very narrow defination of the word.

That said, there is certainly a lot going on in today's MNGOP that would lend itself to the Merriam Webster defination. The actions of certain people within the party HAS BEEN contemptable. What is going on right now (in the immigration debate) is indeed worthy of moral indignation! We have not (as a party) lived by our core beliefs of smaller government and personal responsibility. Instead we do "whatever it takes" to keep power and that is, to a majority of Americans, contemptable indeed.

"Friends, you and I are the Republican Party and our party is not in "despicable condition.

Here I will jump in. There is context to the Repya quote that the letter writer conveniently leaves out. Context that I am aware of as I have seen and heard Mr. Repya speak on this before. The context is that the leadership, not the activists, are the ones that have done things that left our party in the lurch. The grass roots did not put the party in this shape - the leadership did!

"The leaders of the Republican Part are not "despicable." the activists of the Republican Party are not "despicable". And frankly I don't believe anyone who wants to lead the Republican Party should call our Party "despicable".

Negativity, pessimism and these blatant violations of Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment do not represent the kind of vision and leadership our party needs. "

OK - back to the 11th Commandment thing....I have long had this discussion with my liberal friends...since when is commenting on a leaders record or voting record considered to be "negativity". It is NOT negative to comment on the elected officials record when you disagree with them. It is called laying out the lines of deliniation. Couple this with the the fact that the MNGOP's entire campaign strategy last year was to demonize Mike Hatch and every other liberal candidate on the ballot!

THAT is the thing that struck me (and disappointed me) about this letter. The entire letter is negative and it is the one thing that the letter writer harps on (vis a vis the Repya campaign) is negativity. That and violating Reagan's 11th Commandment - which the letter writer also does...

Everything about this letter, when it came, struck me as "low". It came in a plain envelope with no return address or any indication as to what it was and who it was from. It could have been a solicitation for all I knew. It gave us no reason to vote FOR anyone - a hallmark (if you will) of the currently state and national party leadership. Then there is this gem from the final page.

"I'd ask that you keep in mind what has already come out from this campaign, and please take with a grain of salt and a skeptical eye whatever is sent out or worse yet, whatever half-truths or falsehoods are pushed to our "friends" in the media."

So they throw out this attack and then tell everyone who gets it not to take any response seriously? Sheesh - I thought the Republican Party was better than this!

UPDATE AND BUMP! Well that certainly didn't take long. Based on the single comment, the party already has a letter out disputing the Star Tribune's story. All I can say is it is going to be a wild and wooly week.

Giving credit where credit is due

I got this in the inbox today.

"Dear Republican Friend:

With the legislature now likely out of session until next year, taxpayers here in Minnesota can finally breathe a sigh of relief. By standing strong against the Democrats’ insatiable desire for tax increases and reckless government spending, Minnesotans have much to cheer.
Governor Pawlenty deserves great credit for the strong fiscal leadership he has demonstrated for our state. Representative Marty Seifert and Senator David Senjem did a great job, and the fact that they held their caucuses together strengthened the Governor’s hand.
Let’s briefly review some of the key GOP hard earned victories this legislative session:
Held the line against over $5 billion in new job-killing tax increases.
Protected taxpayers by opposing proposals to hike the gasoline tax by up to 48 cents over 10 years.
Blocked a proposal to give us the highest marginal income tax rate in the nation.
Prevented increases in the state sales tax, vehicle tax and many more.
Demanded that the state live within its means with a responsible increase in state spending.
Stopped the so called “Dream Act” from becoming law. This bill will would have provided in-state education benefits for illegal immigrants.
Made certain taxpayers did not have to pay for domestic partner benefits.
Precluded the Democrats from overriding the Governor on any bill. "

Now I will agree with the Chairman that the Governor, with the use of his veto pen, was deserving of some credit for the successes of this past session, however I think a lot of credit also needs to go to Minority Leader Seifert. He did something that a more tenured legislator (former Speaker Steve Sviggum) could not do. He held a oft-times fractious Republican caucus together so that there was not chance of over-rides. There are a couple of first ring suburban Republican legislators that seem to delight in throwing their caucus members "under the bus" so to see the caucus hold so strong is indeed a testament to the Minorty Leader's skills.

"Governor Pawlenty and Republican leaders have done much to make us proud. I am honored to have worked with Governor Pawlenty and the House and Senate caucuses to help advance their pro-taxpayer agenda. "

Again, I agree. The Governor and the Republican leadership in the House and Senate have much to be proud of.

"At the Republican Party of Minnesota, we worked hand in hand with the caucus leaders and the Governor to advocate the conservative position. In the press, we aggressively attacked the DFL’s tax proposals and even produced a web video which garnered a good deal of attention. "

The Party was certainly agressive in the papers and in producing the web videos, but.....

"By rallying constituents to let their legislators know how they felt about the DFL’s tax bills, we helped Minnesotans learn the facts through BPOU leader updates, the Newsline, and targeted phone calling."

EXCUSE ME????? I think I maybe got one email or call out of the state party during the entire session that wasn't asking for money. Everything I learned about the propsed bills in the session I got from my own sources. I sent out more emails to my friends and family about what the DFL leadership was up to than I got from the state party!!! I know a lot of BPOU leaders who are frustrated to no end at the lack of communication that has come out of the state party headquarters.

If it were not for some of the intrepid bloggers in this state, I doubt much would have gotten out to the activists. Blogs like SCSU Scholars and Minnesota Democrats Exposed and Residual Forces and Freedom Dogs and Anti-Strib and Let Freedom Ring and Eckernet were all more instrumental in getting the word out about what was happening in St. Paul during the last legislative session, and for that, the Minnesota GOP should be ashamed.

Solutions

OK - I set the ideals and I laid out what the base is saying is wrong with the Republican Party. Now is the time for solutions. I think it's really pretty simple.

1) Along with identifying the RINO's we need to identify and encourage those Republicans that are sticking to their principles! When you find the RINO's, chastise them. Let them know where they have strayed, but when you find the ones that are sticking to their principles, encourage them. The more the ones that stick to their principles hear from those of us who appreciate them, the more that they stick to their princples. It IS a self fulfilling prophecy!

2) The party activists look to the state party (and it's sub-divisions in the Congressional Districts and the BPOUs) for direction. GIVE IT TO THEM!!!! Give them something to believe in, something that they can share with their friends and neighbors.

3) When you do communicate with the activists - give them a positive message! The line that we got over the last two years - "you don't want the Democrats in charge do you?" does not jazz up the volunteers and donors. They want IDEAS - ideas like tax cuts and fiscal responsibility. Once they latch on to the ideas and put you in power - do everything you can to impliment those ideas. Don't listen to the lobbyists and the press tell you it can't be done.....do the right thing and JUST DO IT!!!!

4) Give the rest of the world a simple message - one that is easy to understand. The MNGOP Party platform is a cumbersome beast! Boil it down to 10 simple points. The family knows best - whether it is abortion, health care, school choice, charitable giving or spending....THE FAMILY KNOWS BEST. You can cover multiple planks in a simple sentence! Go back and read my post "Why I am a Republican." and turn the plank into something that simple!

5) Listen to the your base. When your base is happy, share the joy. When they are dis-satisfied, listen to them. Don't tell them to just shut up and come vote, because if they do shut up, they will NOT come out and vote for you on election day. Don't believe me - go back and look at the last election! Don't rely on pollsters and outside advisors.

6) You can not rely on the middle to win elections for you alone. You still need to court your base.

Now it's your turn, fellow Republicans. We have one month to decide the direction of the Republican Party of Minnesota. What do YOU think they should do to move the party forward?

Where it went wrong.

First sorry for the delay in getting this out. Sadly, life got in the way of blogging.....darned responsibilities....

In my previous post, I outlined why I am a Republican. However, one can certainly say that the Republican Party (both nationally and in Minnesota) seem to have strayed from those basic core priniples.

During the 2006 election, I volunteered to work on a campaign. One of the things that I did was to set up phone banks and door knocking campaigns. All I had to do was contact people (on a list that was given to my by the state party) who had worked phone banks and door knocking campaigns before and ask them when they could help. The vast majority of those that I contacted said "I love X but I can not in good conscience work for a party that has abandoned it's principles." WOW what an eye opener! Since I knew a few of these people from activites other than politics so I asked what specifically had upset them. In no particular order they said:

1) Spending like Democrats (given that our governor proposed spending a $2+b surplus you can't argue with that)
2) Failure to secure the border
3) Encouraging government growth (Medicare part D, No Child Left Behind...need I go on?)
4) Lack of a message (no we don't consider "you don't want the Democrats to be in charge do you?" to be a "message"!)
5) Drilling in ANWR and the high cost of gasoline.
6) Undercutting the President on judges and the war (HELLO SENATOR COLEMAN?????)
7) There is much much more but you get the idea.....

Now I live in a strongly Republican county, but it was not that long ago that we were represented by Democrats (David Minge) in the US House and the State House (Becky Otto for one and I can not remember the others for the life of me)! When I talked to my friends and neighbors and people at the soccer fields and school events all said the same thing "There is no difference between the two parties anymore." and to a great extent these people were right. If you looked at the actions of the people at the top of the ticket (President, Governor and Senator) there was little distinguishable difference. That perception hurt a lot of good people further down on the ticket.

Then in March, the BPOU (Basic Political Operating Unit - the grassroots level) convention and people who had long served on the BPOU committee walked away - saying that the party no longer "represented" their beliefs.

This is the crossroads that Minnesota GOP is facing! What the party does in the next 45 days will determine to long term fate of the Minnesota Republican Party. It could either move forward and retake the House and maybe even the Senate or it will whither away into obscurity. What is the answer? Based on my discussions with the activists that stepped away and the average "Joe and Jane" voter, there are a few things that can save the party.

And that is the topic of the next post.....

Why I am a Republican

This was something I got from an RNC publication. It sums up why I am a Republican.

I believe the strength of our nation lies with the individual and that each person's dignity, freedom, ability and responsibility must be honored.

I believe in equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all, regardless or race, creed, sex, age or disability.

I believe free enterprise and encouraging individual initiative have brought this nation opportunity, economic growth and prosperity.

I believe government must practice fiscal responsibility and allow individuals to keep more of the money they earn.

I believe the proper role of government is to provide for the people only those critical functions that cannot be performed by individuals or private organizations and that the best government is that which governs least.

I believe the most effective, responsible and responsive government is government closest to the people.

I believe Americans must retain the principles that have made us strong while developing new and innovative ideas to meet the challenges of changing times.

I believe Americans value and should preserve out national strength and pride while working to extend peace, freedom and human rights throughout the world.

Finally, I believe the Republican Party is the best vehicle for translating these ideas into positive and successful principles of government.

This is what Ronald Reagan believed and why I became a Republican. It is the promise of this nation that I love and believe in. This is also why (in upcoming posts) I will attempt to explain why I feel that the Republican Party, nationally and in Minnesota, are worth fighting for.

Grass Roots....

AAA started a conversation yesterday based on Chairman Carey's appearance on the Jason Lewis radio show yesterday. Chairman Carey said (in response to a caller asking about RINO's that don't follow the platform) that the people passing the platform are the same people who nominate these RINOs. AAA got upset, saying that the Chairman "blamed" the grassroots. I responded that technically, the Chairman is correct and that is where the discussion got going. Into that discussion, we need to interject a few interesting points.

"The first rule of politics is, "take care of your base." That doesn't mean you give your supporters everything they want, but if your base isn't happy, you're going to have a rough time. Why? Because they're the people who donate money, volunteer to help candidates, talk you up to their friends, defend you when you're under attack, and, when they're happy at least, they’ll crawl over broken glass to come out and vote for you."

AAA is spot on here - the Chairman is not taking care of the base. The MNGOP base is HORRIBLY unhappy and while the Chairman says he is listening to the base, I have to wonder if he really is, based on his poorly choosen answer to the caller.

"2) Stay Out Of The Primaries: One of the most aggravating things about the 2006 election was the Republican Party’s involvement in the primaries.
The worst example of this was the National Republican Senatorial Committee's insistence on supporting Lincoln Chafee, a left of center Republican who didn't vote for George Bush in 2004, in a tough Rhode Island primary against Steven Laffey. What was the result of that brilliant maneuver? The NRSC lagged far behind their Democratic counterparts in fund raising because conservatives withheld their donations in retaliation and in the end, Chafee still lost. This isn't the only Republican Party screw-up of this sort either. Look at the Arlen Specter vs. Pat Toomey battle in 2004 and the Randy Graf vs. Steve Huffman race in 2006. In each case, the party's interference came back and bit them hard in the behind."

Not much to add here. It goes back to what I said about the GOP being a bottom UP organization. However, GOP leadership (including Chairman Carey) seem to think of it as a top DOWN organization.

"3) Sometimes, It is the Thought That Counts: Rich Lowry once said that, "(Bill) Clinton was in favor of small, popular things. Bush apparently likes to be in favor of big, unpopular things."
This is another area where the Democrats are smarter than the Republicans. The Dems are constantly doing small things to show their base that their hearts are in the right place. It's these little gestures, sometimes even throwaway lines in speeches that help keep their base happy, even when the left isn't getting everything they want."

Again - not much to add and no argument here.

"4) Hang Together Instead Of Hanging Separately: Liberals in the blogosphere have a reputation for being good at organizing and raising money for elections. It's well deserved and I can tell you that from experience, because last election cycle, I started a grassroots conservative group called Rightroots to raise money in the blogosphere. We raised around $300,000 from the right side of the blogosphere in about 3 months which may sound like a lot, but it's chicken scratch when it's spread over 20+ candidates. During that same time period, liberal bloggers raised millions and blew our doors off."

This is a common theme when you hear Congressman Kline's District Chief of Staff (Mike Osskopp) speak. He tells about seeing UAW workers toiling side by side with wealth distribution socialists to get the Democratic candidate elected. Meanwhile, the pro-life folks are fighting fiscal conservative candidates because the candidate is not "pro-life enough". This is not to say that the right to life crowd is not the only conservative caucus to do this....this is simply one example of many.

"5) Attack, Attack, Attack! We might as well change the Republican Party symbol from an elephant to a punching bag because the Republican wimps in DC just refuse to fight back. The base may have no qualms about going after liberals, but when we look for Republican pols on the Hill to show some leadership in this area, we're almost always sadly disappointed."

If I had a nickle for every time I heard a Republican supporter say "If only the President would fight back" I could retire a very wealthy woman! The reason it is said so often is it is true. President Bush is too kind, too determined to turn the other cheek in a city where politcs is a blood sport. To say that the President is bringing a knife to a gun fight is giving him too much credit. The Democrats and their supporters play to win - where President Bush plays to make friends. It's not working Mr. President! Please, please PLEASE stand up for your self and your administration. It is time to turn the money changers out of the temple....not turn yet another cheek.

John Hawkin's closing paragraph says it all.

" C'mon, guys, you don't have to start comparing Howard Dean to Hitler or anything, but how about showing a little moxie instead of cringing, apologizing, and rolling over like French poodles every time the Democrats go after someone? You Republicans on the Hill: the Democrats have spent the last 2 years smacking you in the mouth, taking your lunch money, and pushing you down while you keep hoping people will give you brownie points for being "nice" and "bipartisan." At what point does it dawn on you guys that it's time to go after the Democrats as hard as they're going after you?"

Chairman Carey - are you listening to the base?????